


catharsis

by aeterna_nox



Category: SEVENTEEN (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Fluff and Angst, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-25
Updated: 2019-12-25
Packaged: 2021-02-26 03:46:55
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 10,357
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21936925
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/aeterna_nox/pseuds/aeterna_nox
Summary: Throughout the 23 years of his life, Jeon Wonwoo, had been scammed, betrayed by friends, and heartbroken. Yet somehow, despite all this, he had a pure heart and still had faith in people. Wonwoo never understood how you could judge a book by its cover. He always tried to see the best in everyone, even Jun (the coworker that everyone else found to be weird). Until one day, when he woke up with the ability to read minds...
Relationships: Jeon Wonwoo/Wen Jun Hui | Jun
Comments: 6
Kudos: 102
Collections: YMMH FIC FEST





	catharsis

**Author's Note:**

> Since the reveals have past, I would like to give a shout-out to @moonfleur for giving me amazing advice/helping me finalize my plotline and our good friend who joined this fest with me~. Love you guys!

The world is a dark place. Filled with lies, secrets, and betrayals. Despite who we really are, we all tend to put on some sort of mask. A mask that shields our true selves. The worst parts of ourselves that we would like to keep hidden from the world as much as we could. Afraid to be vulnerable. Afraid to be imperfect. Afraid to be real... 

There was one young man that discovered this a little late in his life. Throughout the 23 years of his life, Jeon Wonwoo had been scammed, betrayed by friends, and heartbroken. Yet somehow, despite all this, he had a pure heart and still had faith in people. Wonwoo didn’t allow past bad experiences with those who hurt him to influence how he would act around others. His friends would always tell him, “Wonwoo, you’re too nice. You’re too good for your own good. The world is a scary place.” Wonwoo never understood how you could judge a book by its cover. He always saw the best in everyone, until one day...when he opened his eyes.

* * *

**A day before the awakening…**

As usual, before heading off to his morning run, Wonwoo stopped by at the convenience store next door. Grabbing a few of his favorite trail mix bars from the aisle, he went up to line up at the registers which were surprisingly longer than usual. While waiting, he looked at the cashier and recognized her immediately. It seemed like she would always work early morning shifts every day on weekdays. Wonwoo was always fascinated by how she always had the biggest smile plastered on her face while working. Always greeting every customer with the most friendly-sounding “Hello~!”

“Next in line!”

As the person in front of him made their way towards the register, Wonwoo swore that he saw the cashier’s smile falter. Blinking twice, he looked again and saw her normal bright smile as the customer in front of her placed their items down one by one. He must’ve just seen wrong.

“Next in line!” She called out again, raising her hand up in the air to let Wonwoo know that it was his turn. 

“Hey.” Wonwoo greeted with a meek smile as he placed down his trail mix bars onto the counter. 

Just like how she acted around the other customers, she greeted him with a cheery voice without making much eye contact and immediately started scanning his items. “Hello~!” 

As she rang him up, he became filled with curiosity as he observed her never-changing happy facial expression.

“Hey, can I ask you a question?” 

The girl’s eyes widened in surprise and so did Wonwoo’s. He didn’t expect to suddenly blurt out his thoughts like that. Although Wonwoo had a feeling that his burning question might make her feel uncomfortable, he decided that he might as well ask her anyways since he already put himself in the situation.

“Oh, um...I was just wondering if you are always this happy all the time?” He asked, inserting his card into the machine in front of him.

The girl lowered her head and stared at the counter for a moment. It seemed like she was lost in deep thought or contemplating over something? She took a quick glance at the line that was starting to get longer and looked back at Wonwoo. “Only sometimes! Haha...” 

Before he could ask her any more questions, the card machine made the loud beeping noise to notify him to remove his card. Once he pulled the card out, the cashier hurriedly handed him his receipt as she wished him to have a good day. Not wanting to be a bother nor hold up the line any longer, Wonwoo decided to just drop it and left the store. It must be nice to always be that energetic and cheery.

He took out his earphones that were already plugged in to his phone and inserted one in each ear before starting his jog. Wonwoo enjoyed running before heading off to his new office job every morning. Being able to clear his mind helped him to go into a long day of work with a more peaceful mind. Wonwoo only started jogging recently when he first got this new intern position a month ago, but already recognized a few other joggers that seemed to have the same mindset as him. He would always pass by a young man that looked like he was in his 20s, a high school student, and an auntie. They always made his mornings better as they would always greet him with a friendly smile or a small nod towards his direction whenever they cross paths. Moments like these were like having a warm cup of coffee in the morning to Wonwoo.

After making a few rounds around the block, he went back home to shower, got dressed, and made his way to the subway station. On his way there, Wonwoo passed by the local bakery that always gave off the best-smelling aroma of baking bread. As he got closer, he noticed that the auntie that owned the shop was outside standing in front of a man with brown hair crouching on the floor.

“Auntie, is this your cat? She’s so pretty~.” The man asked her.

The grey cat purred with delight as she closed her eyes, allowing herself to be petted. 

“Nah, this one’s a stray. I can’t afford to have cats running around in my store, but I always make sure to leave out some tuna and water outside for her..” The auntie explained. 

Having a weakness for cats, Wonwoo stopped walking and watched as the man played with the kitty. With every swipe of a paw, his heart melted due to the cat’s cuteness. Feeling someone’s gaze upon him, the man looked up. Wonwoo was taken aback by the man’s beauty. He had a nice sharp jawline, a long narrow nose, and the most gorgeous looking big round almond-shaped eyes.

The man greeted him with a bright smile as he stood back up and left without saying a word. Wonwoo stared at the back of the man’s head for a few moments before breaking out of his trance and bending down to pet the kitty himself.

While having fun playing with the kitty, Wonwoo lost track of time and soon enough 25 minutes flew by. It wasn’t until the kitty got bored and scurried off when Wonwoo noticed the time.

“Oh shoot! I’m going to be late for work!” 

While running, Wonwoo was suddenly stopped by a man holding a clipboard outside the entrance of the subway station.

“Hello, Sir! Sorry to bother you this morning, but could you spare a couple of minutes for me please?”

Wonwoo took a look at his watch and sighed. It was 7:25 am, the transit to his workplace takes 15 minutes, and a new train comes every ten minutes. Things would be fine if he makes it to the next train in five minutes. “Sure.” Wonwoo replied, stepping aside with the man to continue the conversation without blocking foot traffic.

“Thank you, kind Sir! So, have you ever heard of the Central Amphibious Rainforest Animals Tavern?”

As Wonwoo shook his head, the man continued to babble. 

“Well, this organization of ours helps take care of endangered amphibians animals that reside in the rain forests of Central America! In our little tavern sanctuary, we have 17 Manengouba Long-fingered frogs, 13 Nsoung Long-fingered frogs, 3 Redbelly Egg frogs, and 1 Glass frog! Our team recently discovered a new endangered species and we need the help of animal lovers like you to help financially support us! Just 20,000 won ($20 USD) a month!”

Wonwoo rubbed the back of his neck and forced an awkward smile. “20,000 won? I don’t know if I would be able to afford that every month…”

The man lowered his clipboard and put a hand on Wonwoo’s shoulder. “That was me too, my boy, I used to be a broke college student, but I signed up to donate anyway and got to see good results from this organization! They showed me the number of amphibians I was able to save and how much of an impact my donations made! Please, don’t let them go extinct!”

Pressured by both the short amount of time and his weak heart for animals, Wonwoo ended up signing up to donate and gave the man his credit card number before running to catch his train.

“Morning Intern Jeon. Glad you could make it.” His team supervisor greeted him just as he ran into the office. 

After bowing multiple times to apologize for his tardiness until his supervisor walked away, Wonwoo sighed in frustration as he slugged over to his desk. As he took off his messenger bag and plopped down onto his chair, a coworker leaned over from the next cubicle and whispered loudly. 

“Psst! Hey Intern Jeon! Is it just me or do you think that the new intern we just hired is kind of off…?”

“Who?”

“That guy! Moon Junhui!” The coworker pointed towards the brown-haired young man with his back facing towards them that was humming a jingle while making copies by the printer machine. When Wonwoo got a glimpse of his face, his eyes lit up in recognition. It was the guy that was petting the stray cat. So, his name was Junhui…”

“Uhh...How is he weird?” 

“Well for one thing, he added everyone here on social media after his first day of work. Oh, and he also told everyone to call him Jun. Isn’t it a bit too early to ask your coworkers call you by a nickname?” 

Wonwoo chuckled. “He’s probably just a friendly guy, that’s all. And I feel like nicknames are quite commonly used these days.” 

“Okay, then how about how he blanks out a lot? I’ve seen him do that many times.”

“Doesn’t everyone do that from time to time?”

“But like, he does it for a really long time! It takes him a solid good few minutes before someone could snap him out of it.”

Wonwoo watched as Jun finished gathering up his papers and went back to his desk which was diagonally across from Wonwoo’s. “He seems pretty normal to me. It’s not very nice to judge a book by it’s cover you know.” 

Right when Wonwoo was about to get started on his work of the day, Jun started to sing. “Hot dog, hot dog, hot diggety dog~.” 

The coworker made eye contact with Wonwoo and nodded slowly. “Yup, that’s the Mickey Mouse Clubhouse song. And it’s not weird that I know that because I had an 8-year-old at home, okay?” 

After a long excruciating day at work, Wonwoo was in a crowded subway on the way back home when someone from behind bumped into him.

“Oh oops. Sorry, my bad!” The man apologized in a hoarse voice.

“It’s okay.” Wonwoo responded, being the well-mannered gentleman that he is.

At the stop before his, the man quickly exited and Wonwoo watched as he hurried up the stairs. Wonwoo figured that the man must’ve been in a rush.

“You aren’t the brightest, are you young man?”

Wonwoo turned around and came face to face with a small elderly woman with a shawl wrapped around her shoulders. Glancing left and right, he then pointed at himself. “Me?”

“That man tried to steal your wallet. Him bumping into you was no accident.” She handed Wonwoo his wallet that she managed to get from the thief somehow. “You have to be less gullible, young child. You can’t trust everyone.” 

“Don’t worry, I don’t trust a book by its cover.” 

The woman rummaged through the bag she was carrying and handed him a small hardcover book with the word “BELIEVE” on the cover."Well, perhaps you should stop just looking at the cover and start trying to see what might be inside.” 

Although he was weirded out and super confused, Wonwoo did what he was told and flipped open the book which appeared to only have one page. On the center of the page, at the exact same position as where the title was on the cover, was the word “LIE” in bold letters. Near the bottom of the page, there was a short question that read “Can you see it?” 

When Wonwoo looked up to ask the woman what she meant, she was gone. He was about to search for her when the subway train doors opened again at his stop. 

Upon entering his apartment, Wonwoo tossed the book onto the kitchen counter. Feeling extra tired, Wonwoo quickly showered and went straight to bed right after.

\---

The next morning, Wonwoo woke up to his alarm with a huge migraine. “Ugh...Why does it feel like my something is ramming itself against the walls in my head?”

After taking a couple of painkillers, Wonwoo grabbed a water bottle and headed off to the convenience store to start his usual morning routine. 

On his way there, he bumped into his next-door neighbor Mr. Lee. “Good morning!” Wonwoo greeted him with a polite smile. 

“Morning,” Lee replied as Wonwoo passed by. _If only I was just as tall as that kid._

Wonwoo stopped walking and turned back to face him. “Did you say something?”

“Huh, what? No.” _He’s really handsome too. Why couldn’t God be fairer and give me at least one of those?_

“Oh okay…” Wonwoo was extremely confused by what he just witnessed. He saw Mr.Lee’s mouth moving for only the first part of what he actually heard. Thinking it might just be side effects to the painkillers, Wonwoo shrugged it off and went to the convenience store. 

While picking out his usual treats, Wonwoo noticed a blonde man at the end of the row concentrating really hard while staring at the snacks before him. When Wonwoo shuffled over to take a closer look at a snack near the man, a loud voice startled him.

 _HMMM...Should I get the frosted brown sugar cinnamon pop-tart or the strawberry pop-tart?_ The man gasped out loud with his eyes slanting upwards at a 10:10 angle. _OH MY GOD. Is that a s'mores pop-tart?? Wait, wait. They have pumpkin spice one too!! Ugh, so many choices, so little time!!_

Wonwoo’s eyes widened as he froze in shock. The blonde man did not once open his mouth to speak, yet he’s hearing all of this?! What the f*ck was going on?

“Cmon Soonyoung. Hurry up! Just choose one!” 

“It’s so hard to choose! Look at all the flavors they have, Dokyum!!” 

Dokyum sighed as he picked up a splitz pop-tart that had half s’mores and half frosted brown sugar cinnamon. “Just pick this one and have the best of both worlds.” 

As Soonyoung went off to pay for the pop-tart with a lit-up face, Dokyum shook his head as he broke into a smile. _Why do I even bother dealing with you?_

When Wonwoo made accidental eye contact with the man named Dokyum, he panicked and quickly put back the treats he picked out before heading for the exit. It was already crazy enough that he was hearing things around Mr. Lee. but now with two other people?? Feeling like his head was spinning, Wonwoo went outside to get some fresh air and hopefully clear his head. He went to the park that he usually jogged at to sit down and take a quick breather. Since it was still early in the morning, the park was practically empty as always and Wonwoo got the chance to just sit in peace and tranquility. After clearing his mind, Wonwoo decided to skip his daily jog and go back home to take a short 20-minute nap before heading to work.

Half an hour later, Wonwoo headed towards the subway while feeling more refreshed as his migraine wasn’t as intense as it was before. Although Wonwoo kept hearing voices in his head, he just kept walking and did his best to ignore them. However, all hell broke loose in his mind when he went down to the subway station. With crowds of people trying to get to work, all the voices of their thoughts shouted inside Wonwoo’s head at once.

 _I hate Tuesdays. Did I remember to turn off the stove? I just want to quit already, but I can’t. Why didn’t my girlfriend text me a good morning text back? Oh crap, I forgot to bring my coffee mug._

As the banging in his head became more intense, Wonwoo squeezed his eyes shut, trying to get all the voices out as he held his head. He concentrated so hard that sweat started to form on his forehead and his breathing became heavy. 

_Uh, is that guy okay? Why is that young man sweating so much?_

When nothing seemed to work, he ran out of the subway station and went home instead of going to work. Even as the days passed, the voices didn’t seem to go away anytime soon. Wonwoo even tried to look through the book the elderly woman gave him, but he couldn’t find anything that would tell him how to get rid of this new ability. As a result, he called his boss to take a work leave. 

During those few months, Wonwoo practiced on controlling his powers by blocking out other people’s thoughts. At first, he stayed at home most of the time and only went out to practice for a few minutes before not being able to take it anymore. He became a hermit or couch potato that had little interaction with other human beings. Still, Wonwoo tried to keep connected to people by spending a lot of time on social media. One day, he came across Jun’s post of a picture of himself at the beach with a random picture of a penguin running around. A fellow coworker of theirs had commented on the post, asking if Jun posted the second picture on accident to which Jun replied “no.” This made Wonwoo wonder for a moment if his coworker was right about Jun being a little off. 

As time passed, he was able to restrict his ability and was able to read minds only at will rather than it being uncontrollable. However, it was still too hard for him to handle large amounts of people. Luckily, Wonwoo found out that wearing headphones and blasting music was very helpful in blocking out the voices in those settings. By the third month, he was able to control his powers even without the headphones and decided that he was capable of going back to work. 

During his first morning back to his usual routine, Wonwoo made it through the convenience store without hearing anything he didn’t want to hear. When he got to the cashier counter, he noticed that the girl that always smiled was working that day again. Even though he respected the privacy of others, the word “LIE” in the book made Wonwoo curious about what lies beneath her consistent happy face.

“Hello~!” She chirped as she scanned his items.

“Hi, how are you?”

 _How am I? Well, I just bombed my midterm yesterday and my manager has been getting on my case all morning. How could she expect me to stock AND help the line at the same time? I would like to see her be at two places at once._ “I’m fine! How about you?”

Wonwoo handed her money and narrowed his eyes. “Are you really fine?” 

The cashier paused for a moment to think as her smile faltered. From what Wonwoo saw, she almost considered telling him the truth until she noticed her manager staring them down and walking towards them.

“Is everything alright here?” The manager asked with a tight forced smile. _What is holding up the line?_

“Oh yes, everything is fine.” The cashier quickly gave Wonwoo his change before wishing him to have a good day.

As he thanked the cashier, Wonwoo heard the manager criticize the cashier in their head. 

_It’s always that girl causing problems. Not only can she not multitask, but she’s also slow. She doesn’t even give the best customer service when it comes to engaging them in conversations. I think she even forgot to promote our new discounted price for the soda! I swear I’m about to give her fewer hours and just cut her off in a few months._

Wonwoo was angered upon hearing all of this. As a regular customer, he knew that the cashier was one of the fastest ones when it came to handling transactions, that she would always be running back and forth in the store to finish certain duties, and that other customers would always comment on how she makes their day with her bright smile. However, for some reason, the manager would never be around to see all this and would only appear during the worst moments when the cashier may occasionally slip up. On top of that, the manager had no consideration whatsoever for the cashier who was juggling between being a college student and working long hours at the store. It was unfair for her and Wonwoo so badly wanted to do something about it...but he couldn’t. He couldn’t tell the cashier about what he knew nor tell the manager off for being inconsiderate.

To blow off his steam, Wonwoo sprinted during his morning jog and blasted his music loudly. He still made sure to greet his fellow jog buddies with a wide smile though. Wonwoo's mood was dampened once more when he bumped into the save the rainforest frogs guy and realized that he had been scammed. Wonwoo immediately unsubscribed to the monthly donations, canceled his card just in case, and headed off to work.

When he passed by the local bakery on his way to work, he noticed that the woman that owned the store was yelling at the grey cat.

Wonwoo ran up to check on the situation.“What’s wrong auntie?” 

“Ai, this cat has been meowing like crazy since a few days ago. I don’t know what she wants! I give her food and water, but she still keeps on crying so loudly! It’s starting to get on the nerves of my customers!” 

Wonwoo bent down to the cat’s level and looked into her eyes. After getting the message, he signaled for the bakery lady to follow him as the cat led them to the backside of the store. There they found a poor kitten stuck on the fenced gate crying in pain.

“Oh my god! So that’s why she has been meowing...She was calling for help because one of her kittens got stuck.”

“I can help.” A voice from behind said. 

Wonwoo turned his head and saw Jun who was still as handsome as he remembered. 

Together, they managed to get the kitten untangled and fed it some food after checking for serious injuries. 

“I saw it all happen. You’re a cat whisperer, that’s so cool.” Jun complimented Wonwoo as he petted the grey cat to calm her as her kitten was taken to the vet. “You’re Jeon Wonwoo, right? I’m Moon Junhui, but you can call me Jun for short.” Jun extended his free hand towards Wonwoo who took it into his and shook it. “It’s been a while since I’ve seen you around the office. Is everything okay?”

Wonwoo nodded. “Yeah, everything is all good now. I'm coming back today.”

“Well, glad to have you back!”

It seemed like not everyone was glad to have Wonwoo back at work. Whenever Wonwoo would bump into his team supervisor, he would hear judgemental thoughts about him. Until now, he never knew that the team manager held a grudge against Wonwoo.

_This kid thinks that he could take a work leave after one month of interning and just come back whenever he wants? That’s utter B.S.! Just because his uncle is the boss’s best friend, it doesn’t mean he should get special treatment._

Frustratingly, once again, Wonwoo wasn’t able to confront the team manager since he couldn’t expose his secret ability. 

When Wonwoo returned home, he threw his messenger bag on his bed with a grunt in frustration. It was his first day back to his normal routine and he had to hear people talking trash about others in their minds. A flash of light interrupted Wonwoo’s thoughts. It seemed like it came from the book that the elderly woman gave him which was now sitting on the drawer by his bed. Opening it, Wonwoo was surprised to find that there were two pages instead of one. Quickly flipping to the new page, he read “BEar the burden of knowing the truth.” Wondering why the letters “BE” were both capitalized, he flipped back to the first page. Wonwoo watched awestruck as the letters “BE” magically appeared in front of the word “LIE.” Using his brain, he figured that the end goal was to spell out the word “BELIEVE” as he continued to learn more about his ability to read minds.

\---

Over the next couple of days, Wonwoo began to subconsciously use his ability more due to one reason. Moon Junhui. 

He caught him checking his social media during work once and noticed that he stopped on the post that Wonwoo saw when he was on work leave. Apparently someone else had recently commented on the post, asking Jun why there was a picture of a penguin. Curious to know too, Wonwoo got prepared to delve into Jun’s mind to see what he was thinking when he made the post. Before he could take a look, Jun noticed that someone was watching and gestured Wonwoo to get closer to get a better look at the post. Without Wonwoo, asking Jun began to explain why he posted these pictures together.

“I visited the beach when we had a day off and I wanted to show how although I was ‘free’ from work for that day, I wasn’t truly free. The next day, I would have to go back to work and I won’t ever be free from the responsibilities or expectations that our society holds against us. Just like how this penguin in the picture might have been free to roam around for a bit, but the tag on its arm shows that it’s not completely free. It’s still in captivity.” 

Boy was Wonwoo not expecting that. His mind was complex, yet simple. Rather than describing him as unbothered, like what most people might see him as, Jun was untainted. No matter what people said, he would stay true to himself. 

He also recently had a hotdog machine delivered to the office, gaining many odd looks from coworkers and being the main topic of their lunch conversations. Wanting to understand why Jun was so ecstatic to receive it and set one up in their breakroom, Wonwoo allowed himself to read his mind. He saw glimpses of Jun’s memory as a kid and how his family was struggling financially to the point where they had to live on the streets in China for a while. There was an elderly man that would sell hotdog buns near where Jun and his family used to beg for money and one day Jun went up to the cart with a few coins in his hands. Wonwoo saw how Jun counted the little coins that he earned with a huge smile and was devastated when he realized that he was a couple of coins short from being able to afford a hotdog bun. The elderly man kindly gave it to Jun anyways, who happily ran back to his mom and shared it with her. It wasn’t the only time that it happened either. Wonwoo saw that the man gave Jun free hotdog buns from time to time, even when his family was able to afford a tiny house.

Wonwoo was amazed. If anyone cared to ask, they would’ve known that the reason for Jun’s unique posts or joy over an object holds a special deeper meaning that wasn’t weird at all. 

After gaining a better understanding of Jun, Wonwoo felt closer to him in a way and more confident in trying to befriend him.

“I’m gonna grab a drink from Starbucks. Did you want anything?” Wonwoo boldly asked Jun one day.

Jun didn’t respond and just continued to stare at his computer as if he was under some kind of trance.

“Hello? Jun?” Wonwoo snapped his fingers in an attempt to snap him out of it. So this was what their coworker talked about when they talked about how Jun blanks out a lot.

Jun looked up from his computer screen when he realized that Wonwoo was talking to him. “Oh sorry, what did you say?’

Wonwoo repeated his question, earning, a mildly surprised look on his face. “I’m fine. I’m okay..but if you insist…”

“I insist.”

Jun raised both of his hands in defeat. “Well, in that case, surprise me.” 

Forty minutes later Wonwoo returned and went straight to Jun’s desk. Seeing that Jun was preoccupied typing away on his computer, Wonwoo nonchalantly placed down the drink on the edge of the table... 

“An iced green latte? How’d you know that this was my go-to? Unless…” Jun got up from his seat and leaned in close to Wonwoo before whispering in his ear. “Unless you read my mind?”

Wonwoo’s eyes widened, but he tried his best to keep his composure as he began to laugh awkwardly.

Jun chuckled and patted Wonwoo’s shoulder. “I’m just kidding~.

Maybe Wonwoo should be more careful when using his ability...

* * *

The week after, Wonwoo was in a good mood as he felt like he and Jun were finally getting closer after exchanging a few Kakaotalk messages over the weekend. He even decided not to wear his headphones during his jog and just allowing his mind to feel free to roam. When he passed by the high school boy he would always see, Wonwoo decided to read his mind to see how he was doing. Seeing a fumbled mess of sadness, stress, and depression, Wonwoo stopped his tracks. Instead of wallowing in frustration for not being able to do anything about knowing people’s burdens, he ran after the young boy and sat him down for a chat. Wonwoo learned that the boy’s name was Joowon and that he was a sophomore in high school. After asking a few questions that Wonwoo knew would help him get the answers he needed, he learned that the boy’s grandma recently passed away and he was not only grieving, but also struggling with school. “I’ve been having a hard time with my advanced geometry class and keep on getting bad grades on my tests. My dad thinks that I do not care that I’m not doing well when I actually do care. When I’m alone, I cry myself to sleep and say the worst things to myself. Last night when I was staying up to study for my test, I angrily typed with tears in my eyes as I wrote ‘Joowon, you bastard. You’re a horrible son, a bad student, and a terrible friend to your classmates.’" Joowon felt a lump in his throat and his leg started shaking like crazy. "If I’m going, to be honest with you Sir, I almost did something I would’ve regretted last night.” 

Wonwoo put his arm around Joowon’s shoulder and gave it a tight squeeze. “I’m glad you didn’t.”

“Me too, but it’s so hard…” Although he was 15-years-old, at that moment, he felt like he was 5-years-old and allowed himself to sob onto Wonwoo’s shoulder. After Joowon calmed down, they exchanged contact numbers and Wonwoo sent him off to school before running home to get changed for work. On his way home, a small smile formed on Wonwoo’s face. That felt good. Helping Joowon release the emotions he’s been bottling up inside made Wonwoo feel relieved too.

While rushing to work, Wonwoo heard something fall out of his messenger bag. It was the book that the lady on the subway gave him. The book fell open to a new page that Wonwoo swore wasn’t there before. In the black ink, it read, “VEnture out where not many dare to go.” Picking up the book, he flipped to the first page of the book. Sure enough, the letters “VE” appeared at the end. Although BELIEVE was all spelled out, Wonwoo noticed that there was still something in front of the word that was still blurred out. Was there something more to it? 

It was a hectic day at work and everyone had to work overtime to finish their assigned duties. When it got late, everyone else already left except Wonwoo and Jun who were both assigned to work on a big project. 

Jun cracked his knuckles as he got up to stretch. “I’ll be right back.” 

Wonwoo nodded, keeping his eyes glued to his computer screen as Jun walked off. It wasn’t until an hour passed when Wonwoo noticed that Jun still didn’t come back from the breakroom. Worried, he got up to check on him. When Wonwoo noticed that the breakroom was dark through the giant glass window, he ran inside quickly and found Jun sitting on the floor with a sullen look on his face. 

“Jun, what’s wrong?”

“The machine malfunctioned…”

“What machine?” Wonwoo glanced at the hotdog machine and then back at Jun. “Oh…”

“I know what they say about me. How our coworkers think I’m strange and weird…”

Not being able to refute that, Wonwoo tried to reassure him.“You’re the first person I’ve ever met that is genuine both in the inside and out. Not afraid to be himself.”

“And you know that how? Because you can read minds?” 

Just like last time Jun brought it up, Wonwoo forced laughter until he saw Jun’s facial expression and realized that he was being serious this time.

“How did you-”

“Well, you haven’t been the greatest at trying to hide it. There were a few incidents that made me had my suspicions. But don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone.” 

Before Wonwoo could come up with an excuse for those incidents, Jun continued to speak. “I wasn’t always like this…” He gazed upon the hotdog machine sitting at the corner of coffee counter with a somber expression on his face. 

Wonwoo recalled the memory that flashed through Jun’s mind earlier this week when he first got to use the machine. It was such a heartwarming fond memory...There was more to it?

“The old man…” Wonwoo began, not even trying to hide the fact that he could read minds anymore.

Jun nodded slowly as he took in a deep breath, downcasting his eyes as he breathed out and started to recall the memory. “When I was 14-years-old, I didn’t hang out with the best crowd. I had just got into one of the top private high schools on scholarship and quickly befriended the most highly respected kids of the school before anyone found out that I didn’t come from a rich family like them. In order to fit in, I had to betray myself and lie my way into being accepted.”

Placing his hand on Jun’s shoulder, Wonwoo listened intently to his words which matched perfectly with his thoughts.. 

“Hah...and that’s not even the worst part. Honestly, lying was fine at the time because it didn’t do anyone any harm. Until, one day when I made the mistake of letting my ‘friends’ walk me home from school…”

Wonwoo watched as a young Jun wearing a school uniform walked down a road while laughing with four other boys his age. As his friends began to chase each other around trying to steal a basketball from one another, Jun fell behind with a troubled look on his face. _Auntie wouldn’t mind if I bring friends to her house and ask her to pretend that I live there right?_ Having felt a wave of anxiety that things may go wrong, he frantically took out his old edition flip phone to text his aunt. 

“Hey look guys! It’s a hotdog bun vendor!” One of his friends shouted, making Jun look up and meeting eyes with a familiar warm gaze. 

“Mister…” Jun said in a low whisper.

It has almost been ten years since he last saw the kind elderly man as Jun and his mom moved away for a while when she got a new job. This was Jun’s first time taking this route ever since they’ve been back and he was pleasantly surprised to see that the man was still well. He looked older but had the same tender eyes that Jun remembers. 

“Cmon Junhui, it’ll be my treat!” One of the boys shouted, waving him over. “Hey old man, we’ll take five! How much are they?” He asked as he started pulling out large bills from his Gucci wallet. This boy was the leader of the group, aka the richest and snobbiest kid at school.

“Seven yuan (Around $1 USD) for each one.” The elderly man replied as he happily began taking out fresh hotdog buns from the hot food display warmer and putting them in little bags. 

“What?!” The boy let out a laugh in amusement. “Wow...My whole life, I’ve never seen anything that cheap!” He scoffed.

When Jun finally came close and the old man was able to see his face more clearly, his smile grew even more at the recognition of the young boy that used to greet him so cheerfully. While exchanging small nods and bright smiles, the old man handed the first hotdog bun to Jun which he received with both hands. All was well and warm until the one obnoxiously loud boy went up to pay. 

“Here, you old geezer. Just take 100 yuan for these. I don’t have any change on me.”

Jun’s eyes widened in shock as he watched his friend carelessly toss the bill at the elderly man. Unable to catch it in time, the bill fell to the floor and the elderly man slowly bent over to pick it up. Seeing his weak knees shake uncontrollably, Jun was about to help him pick it up when he heard the sound of someone spitting in disgust.

“Blech! This is all cold and soggy! No wonder this garbage is so cheap! I hope I don’t get some kind of disease from eating this.” With a grimace, the snob who paid threw his barely eaten hotdog bun to the ground.

Seeing this, the other three boys followed suit. The elderly man froze in place as he stared at the ground where the hotdog buns were thrown.The twinkle that was in the elderly man’s eyes earlier was long gone.

“Moon Junhui?”

Jun took a deep breath before turning to face the leader, using all his might to stop himself from sending a death glare at the boy. 

“Take a bite and tell us what you think of it.”

It was a test. Jun knew that very well. He had been tested many times before this, and he would always bite his tongue and go against his own morals. However, no test has ever been this difficult or heart-wrenching like this one…

From the corners of his eyes, he could see that all the boys including the elderly man were watching him With shaky hands, Jun raised the hotdog bun up to his mouth and took a bite. If it wasn’t for his self-control, Jun would’ve cried right then and there as his old childhood memories flooded in. It tasted just as amazing, maybe even more, than he remembered. Although it was true that it wasn’t hot, the bun was still warm and toasty. As well, Jun knew from experience that the elderly man probably had been standing out here since the early morning even during this cold day. It may not be the most fancy hotdog bun out there, but the taste, to Jun, was out of this world. Just like before, it was filled with love.

“So? How is it?” 

Back to the present in the office breakroom, Jun lowered his head and propped it on top of his bent knees. “You can probably guess what stupid decision I made that day.”

Wonwoo didn’t know what to say. He couldn’t say, “it’s okay” or “everyone makes mistakes.” He felt the heaviness of Jun’s heart that was filled with guilt, shame, and regret. So Wonwoo just sat there silently next to him, rubbing circles on Jun’s back as he waited for him to continue.

Jun sobbed into Wonwoo’s shoulder. “He showed me nothing but compassion and love, and in return...I disrespected him and crushed his heart...And that wasn’t even the worst part...After that incident, I avoided walking down that road for months. I just couldn't face seeing the elderly man again, not with the crestfallen look that I saw on his face that day. I should've gone though...I should've manned up and apologized..."

Wonwoo watched as he caught more glimpses of Jun's memory. He saw a young Jun tossing his backpack on the ground after returning home from school and freezing in place when he overheard what his aunt was telling his mom. Someone had collapsed on the street near her house. It was the elderly man. He had a stroke and fell to the ground, only to be found hours later by a road construction worker. By then, it was too late. Without greeting his aunt, young Jun went straight into his room and shut the door. With heavy breaths, he felt his body go cold in disbelief.

“That poor old man... the hospital couldn’t find any relatives of his so there isn’t anyone that can pay for a funeral service.” He heard his aunt say from the living room.

Upon hearing this, Jun just couldn’t sit still. He got up, swung his bedroom door open, and ran into the living room shouting “Use my tuition money!” 

His mom and aunt turned to look at him with confused looks on their faces. “What?”

“Please, mom...Can we donate my tuition money to hold a proper funeral service for that elderly man?” Jun was trembling now with clenched desperate fists. “Please...I’ll promise to work harder than ever to make up for it.”

The memory skipped ahead to the day of the funeral. Although Jun made a very generous gesture by paying for the funeral, he still made sure that he remained anonymous just in case the boys from school heard about it. In fear, he stayed hidden in the crowd that came to pay their respects instead of being up at the front and telling everyone about how the elderly man lived a generous and humble life. As Jun was about to leave, he took notice of a young girl heading up to the stage. Was she a relative of his that finally showed face? That’s what everyone including Jun wondered, but they were wrong. The young girl swallowed the huge lump in her throat before speaking about how the elderly man showed her family kindness by helping her grandma carry groceries when they used to live in town. Jun stood there amazed as more and more people went up to speak about the selfless good acts of services that the elderly man carried out throughout the past ten years. There was even a young boy around Jun’s age that he recognized from school that went up and talked about how the elderly man saved his life once when he used to be a poor kid on the streets before he got adopted into a wealthy family. It seemed like he was trying to hard his dark past like Jun too. Realizing just how even more big of a dick he was to a man who was practically a hero, tears started to drip down his face. Feeling like his heart was about to break into a million pieces, he maneuvered his way out of the crowd and looked for the nearest restroom. After noticing an elderly lady come out of a single-use restroom, Jun made a beeline for it before anyone else could get there first. He accidentally bumped shoulders with the woman and sputtered a quick apology before rushing in and locking the door. Sinking to the ground, he sat with his back against the door and exploded in tears. Jun cried as much as his heart ached, covering his mouth with his hand to stifle his loud sobs so that people outside wouldn’t hear.

As Jun calmed down after a little while, he reached up and used the sink to help pull himself up. Now standing and holding onto the edge of the sink with his hands, he slowly lifted his head and looked at his tear-stained face in the mirror.

“And do you know why I am who I am today?” Present-day Jun’s voice echoed in the background. “Actually, I have a little secret of my own. That day...was the very first day that I saw…”

“My very first broken reflection.”

In one blink of an eye, young Jun stumbled backward when he saw what was before him. His face in the reflection...it was cracking? He slowly reached up and touched his face, only to feel his regular smooth soft skin. Wondering if it was the mirror, Jun ran his fingertips along the cracks only to feel the flat surface of an untainted glass mirror.

Shocked, Wonwoo disconnected from Jun’s mind with a jolt. 

“I thought I was going insane at first from grief but realized throughout time that it was a real newfound ability of mine. I can see if the reflections of other people are cracked too.” Jun explained.

Something clicked in Wonwoo’s head. That explained why Jun would always be seen zoning out a lot. Those were moments where he’s looking at someone’s reflection.

“So, how about you?”

“Me?” 

“Yeah, what was it like when you got your ability?” 

“Oh well…” Wonwoo dug into his bag and pulled out the book. “A lady on the subway gave me this.” He explained as he began to flip through the pages to show Jun. “I didn’t know what my ability was for until these new pages kept popping up from out of nowhere.” 

Jun’s eyes enlarged when he spotted the word “believe” on the cover. “Wait a second...I have something like that too!”

Scrambling in his own bag, he pulled out what appeared to be a typical handheld mirror. “I found this lying on the sink counter that fateful day and realized what my new ability was for when I saw this.” Jun traced his fingers over the words that were engraved around the frame. 

“Insecurities either make or break you.” Wonwoo read out loud. “So whenever you see someone with a cracked reflection, they’re being consumed by their insecurities inside?”

Jun nodded. “Yeah, but I’m not as powerful as you.” He put down the mirror on the floor face-down and sighed. I’m not able to see what those insecurities are. I’m just able to see who is feeling broken inside.”

“Hey, but at least you’ll be able to be there for someone until you see they’re whole again. That does happen right...?”

Jun recalled different moments throughout the past few weeks and how he saw his cracks slowly fading after each interaction he had with Wonwoo. He then looked towards the broken hotdog machine, which brought back all the cracks that came with the painful memory. ”If you’ve been reading my mind, you should already know.”

Unlike his usual serious demeanor, Wonwoo pouted at Jun’s small accusation. “Who do you think I am? I’ve only read your mind a few -” He paused when he made direct eye contact with Jun who raised an eyebrow as if he was going down a list of the different times Wonwoo obviously used his ability. “I...I try my best not to read people’s minds all the time! It’s an invasion of their privacy and I would probably go crazy if I don’t have the space to think for myself!” 

“You’re cute when you’re flustered.”

Wonwoo’s face flushed pink. “W-what?” He stammered.

“I didn’t say that out loud~.” Jun cheekily said as he plucked Wonwoo’s book out of his hands and began to flip through the pages.

“I-I just have a harder time controlling it whenever I’m frazzled!” 

“Oh, yours is just like mine!” Jun exclaimed, changing the subject to Wonwoo’s relief. “Except you have an extra two letters than me. ‘RE.’” 

“Wait what?” Wonwoo leaned over closer and sure enough, the page that went from ‘LIE’ to ‘BELIEVE’ was now ‘REBELIEVE.’ With Jun still holding onto the book, Wonwoo flipped to second page automatically and found the new page that came with the appearance of the two new letters. 

“REconnect with the past pain and overcome it.”

Wonwoo and Jun looked up from the book at each other simultaneously. “Jun, I think you just helped me finish the final piece.”

Before Jun could say anything, he saw a familiar flash of light that came from the backside of his hand mirror. Quickly, he picked it up and watched as words magically appeared in tiny print above the rest. 

“REmember who you are, who you were made to be.”

Curious, Wonwoo looked over Jun’s shoulder to read the rest.

“BE yourself. 

“VEils that hide your face are meant to be lifted.”

Flipping the mirror back to the front side, Jun peered into the mirror and watched as the letters “RE” got added to “BELIEVE.” 

“It’s been almost five years since the last letters got added...Jeon Wonwoo, I think you just completed mine too.” Jun turned to Wonwoo beaming ever so brightly as if something he’s been searching for was finally found.

They stared into each other’s eyes, both hearts beating faster for each millisecond they held the stare. Wonwoo broke it off first when he remembered that there still was something that hadn’t been solved yet. 

“Can you see it…?” Wonwoo mumbled to himself, staring at the question on his book and thinking about how Jun’s ability might be related to it.

“What?”

Wonwoo took Jun’s hands and positioned him to hold the mirror upright. “Here. Hold it up for me like this for a second.” 

As Jun did what he was told, Wonwoo lifted up his book so that the reflection of the question could be seen through the mirror. However, the question wasn’t the only thing being reflected. 

“Is that...an address?”

By this time, it was already 6:45 a.m the next day and the sun had already begun to rise. Like two excited kids on a treasure hunt, they had no time to waste and decided to take a taxi to the location right away without any context. During the car ride, Wonwoo took some time to process everything that just happened. Never would he have thought that he would find someone else with a special ability. Especially not Jun, his coworker that he was beginning to develop feelings for. Wonwoo turned his head to look at Jun who was gazing out the window. Seeing Jun’s reflection from the car window, pained Wonwoo as he was just reminded of his background story. He couldn’t believe that Jun has been struggling all these years alone. He felt guilty for being able to find the answers to all his questions in a matter of a couple of months when it took years for Jun to gather all the pieces together. It may sound super cheesy, but they completed one another. Wonwoo, for one, was more than glad to be Jun’s “other half.” He hoped that things between them wouldn’t end right after they find out what’s awaiting them at the destination they’re heading to. Wonwoo yearned to learn more about Jun, and not through mind-reading. From their talk, he realized that he really enjoyed hearing the way Jun speaks and explains things. As much as Wonwoo wanted to delve into his complex mind, he would rather have Jun talk to him out loud so that Jun could continue to be confident in being his true self in front of others.

After a while, Jun noticed Wonwoo staring and turned to look back at him. “Okay so you’re either reading my mind, you have something to say, or you’re thinking about how much better my side-profile is under the sunlight.

“If you don’t mind me asking, how did you end up getting here to Korea?” Wonwoo asked, taking this chance to get to know Jun more.

“Oh, well you know the boy that gave the speech and went to my school? I bumped into him by chance as I exited the restroom that day and he introduced himself, saying that his name was Xu Minghao. He told me that he knew that I was the anonymous donor and knew about the situation I was in. Minghao had been inspired by how I decided to stop letting my insecurities take a hold of my life, and decided to help me out by giving me an opportunity to study abroad with him in Korea. It was maybe five years ago when I found I got a part-time job and was finally fully settled in here when we went our separate ways.”

“This is the place.” The taxi driver muttered, just as Jun finished his story.

“Oh, wow…” 

Wonwoo and Jun both approached the building slowly, walking up the stairs leading up to it as they admired its architecture. Before them was a grand white modern-looking building. When they reached the front door, Wonwoo was contemplating their next move when he heard a loud creak. 

Jun froze in place as the door he just gently pushed was now opened ajar.“Uh, ta-da?” He gave Wonwoo an uneasy smile, as he was also mildly surprised to find the doors unlocked. 

They walked into the building to find it empty. It was as if the building was just finished being built and ready to be furnished. As they were about to scour for clues, they heard footsteps coming from behind them.

“Excuse me, but I’m afraid that you two are trespassing right now.” 

Both Wonwoo and Jun turned around slowly, coming face to face with a handsome and lean young man with elf-looking ears, a mullet, circle-lensed glasses, and a big fur coat. 

“Oh my god. Xu Minghao?!” Jun ran up to him upon his recognition. 

“Moon Junhui? What are you-OOF!” Before Minghao could speak any further, Jun had attacked him with a big bear hug.

Wonwoo’s eye might have twitched for a moment upon seeing Jun embrace Minghao so tightly, but nobody saw so it didn’t happen.

Ecstatic to see his old friend again, Jun bombarded Minghao with questions.“What are you doing here? I thought you went back home in China to handle some business? Do you know who owns this building?” 

His excitement was cut short when something dawned on him. “Oh my god...Don’t tell me…Could it be?” Jun gasped, covering his mouth with his hand. “Minghao, you...Are you the old lady??”

Wonwoo face palmed himself upon hearing that comment, even though he did lowkey wonder if Minghao had a connection to all of this.

Minghao sneered at him as he lifted up his glasses up and down. “Wow, really? I just got these yesterday, you didn’t have to be so rude. And I think they make me look quite refined if I must say so myself.” He then made eye contact with Wonwoo and they both bowed to each other and introduced themselves.

“It’s so nice to meet you. I’m Jeon Wonwoo, a coworker of Jun. I’ve heard a lot about you.” Wonwoo shook Minghao’s hands with a friendly smile.

“Ah yes. I’m sure you’ve heard about the things we’ve been through as kids?”

“Uhh….” Wonwoo didn’t know how to respond and looked to Jun for help, but Jun didn’t get the signal.

“It’s okay if he told you. I don’t mind.” Minghao tipped his glasses at Jun before continuing. “Actually, that’s why I’m here. I received a letter about a week ago suggesting that I should start up a therapy clinic. It’s weird because I was just thinking about investing in a business that involves helping troubled kids ever since I revisited our old neighborhood back in China last month. Then one day I just get this anonymous letter with an address and ownership documents to this building that nobody knew existed.”

Jun and Wonwoo looked at one another in shock. Could this be what they were summoned here for?

“Was there anything else in the letter?” Wonwoo asked.

Minghao closed his eyes, trying to envision the letter. “Mm...Oh! There was also this other thing written at the bottom which made no sense at all. It said something like…’ the one who sees and the one who hears will be there to help you.’” 

Giving each other a knowingly smile, the one who could hear people’s thoughts and the one that could see people’s broken reflections knew exactly what they had to do.

\---

Two years later, Wonwoo and Jun’s therapy clinic was thriving. Like most places, they started off slow but began to become the talk of the town after a few satisfied clients. Wonwoo would mostly handle young adult clients and older, and Jun would take in the younger clients as he could relate to them better. To promote their services, as well as to look out for kids with broken reflections, Jun would occasionally make trips to different middle schools and high schools. For some reason, no one bothered to question why they both left their jobs to start the clinic nor did anyone question how they could hold these types of sessions without having an official certificate or degree in psychology. But after all they’ve been through, that was the last thing they would try to question. As well, that wasn’t the only magical thing going on around the clinic. 

“Ready to open?” Jun asked Wonwoo as he fixed his necktie for him while pulling him close.

Wonwoo grunted before clearing his throat. “Almost. I just have to do one more thing…”

“Oh? And what’s that?”

In a swift motion, Wonwoo tilted his head and planted a chaste kiss on Jun’s cheek. Although he still gets shy over Jun’s flirty behavior, Wonwoo learned over the past couple of years to counter it by making advances towards Jun first.

“I see what you did there, but I think you missed~.” Jun leaned in, pressing his lips against Wonwoo’s and giving him a sweet passionate kiss that he won’t be able to get off his mind for the rest of the day.

A soft meow made them pull apart. No, it wasn’t Wonwoo if that was what you were thinking. 

“Why hello there Ppangie~. Are you reminding us that it’s about time we opened?” Jun cooed as he bent down to pet the grey kitty. Wonwoo and Jun had decided to adopt the family of stray cats from the bakery and allowed them to roam around the clinic to help cheer up patients.

Wonwoo’s phone vibrated in his pants pocket. “Oh shoot. They said that the new sign is about ready. I need to head out now to check on it.” Bending down, he gave Jun one last smooch on the cheek before scurrying off outside.

As Ppangie scampered off to find his mother, Jun headed back to his office to prepare for his first session of the day. When he walked inside, he smiled from ear to ear once he found what Wonwoo had left for him on his desk. A small mirror with a note attached to it. Picking it up while letting out a soft hum, he read “In my life, you’re my hotdog bun.” Jun couldn’t help but snicker a little. Although the intended message was sweet, the thought of how the buns are called sausage bun, which kind of gave off a slightly suggestive sexual innuendo. Classic Wonwoo. Ever since the day they both stepped foot into this building, Wonwoo has been doing his best to make sure that Jun felt loved and secured by leaving him small notes attached to mirrors. The notes would consist of compliments, encouragements, and heartfelt messages (or as Jun liked to call them, declarations of love). With time, the cracks on Jun’s reflection slowly vanished one by one. 

Outside, Wonwoo watched as the construction workers started to lower the sign on the top of the building. As they were trying to figure out how to center it, Wonwoo felt a tap on his shoulder. 

“Joowon!” Wonwoo turned around and gave the young boy a tight friendly side-hug. Joowon was one of their very first clients and has been receiving counseling sessions from Jun who managed to encourage him to communicate with his parents more to clear the misunderstandings. Now a high school senior about to graduate, Joowon gained a lot more confidence in himself and, according to Jun, his cracks were just about done disappearing. 

“Is today your last session before you go off to university?” 

“Yeah...It feels a little weird, but fulfilling at the same time. Really, thank you guys for all that you’ve done for me. I wouldn’t be where I am right now with my parents if it weren’t for you two.” 

Wonwoo ruffled Joowon’s hair, which the teen tried to fix immediately. “It’s also all thanks to you too. You also took part in pulling yourself out of the rabbit hole.”

With a proud smile on his face, Wonwoo sent him in as the construction workers finished setting up the sign. While placing both hands on his hips, Wonwoo nodded in approval with a wide grin on his face as he read off the clinic’s name and motto.

**RE: BELIEVE**

**_In yourself, In humanity._ **

  
  


**Author's Note:**

> A/N: If you got this far, I just wanted to say thank you so much for reading! I'll admit, I wrote this a little rushed due to life so it's not my best. However, this is my first longest fic so yay hopefully it wasn't too bad? There's also this one scene that I had to end up leaving out, but I might just make it into a short drabble afterward~! Feel free to leave some comments!! 
> 
> A/N #2 If you didn't catch these:  
> -Jun's social media post is referring to an actual post that he made a while back: https://twitter.com/pledis_17/status/1185106272602845184?s=21  
> -The cat's name, Ppangie, is named after the word bread in Korean (빵)
> 
> As well, you can find my writing account on [Twitter](https://twitter.com/_aeternanox) ! :)


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